SpaceX recently reported that a Falcon 9 upper stage reentered the atmosphere over Europe without completing a controlled reentry burn. This mishap occurred after the stage was launched on February 1, tasked with deploying 22 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
After successfully delivering its payload, the upper stage was supposed to burn its engines to safely reenter over the ocean. However, it failed to do so and remained in orbit. Eventually, atmospheric drag led to its reentry on February 19, with debris landing near Poznań, Poland.
Fortunately, the debris caused only minor damage, like a broken light fixture. A local farmer expressed concern over a crater left in his field and mentioned plans to seek compensation from SpaceX.
SpaceX confirmed that a liquid oxygen leak was to blame for the failure to perform the deorbit burn. They stated that during the mission’s coast phase, a small leak developed, which led to unexpected vehicle body rates. As a precaution, SpaceX passivated the upper stage, venting propellant and discharging batteries to minimize the risk of breakup during reentry.
This incident marks the third recent anomaly with Falcon 9 upper stages. In July 2024, another Falcon 9 launch encountered a liquid oxygen leak, which impeded a circularization burn. Although the Starlink satellites were deployed, they quickly reentered the atmosphere due to high atmospheric drag.
In September, during the Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station, the upper stage experienced an unusual deorbit burn, landing outside the intended area. SpaceX paused launches to investigate these problems.
The FAA allowed Falcon 9 launches to resume after careful consideration, including a waiver for a launch without a deorbit burn. These incidents have drawn attention from the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, which emphasizes the need for careful operation as hardware ages and launch frequency increases.
Despite these challenges, only the July incident resulted in a mission failure. SpaceX continues to evaluate the cause of the oxygen leak and is implementing measures for future flights to prevent similar issues.
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Falcon 9,SpaceX
